My People

Vol. 22, Issue 11, November 2009

"If my people, who are called by My name, humble themselves and pray, and seek My face and turn from
their evil ways, I will hear them from heaven and pardon their sins and revive their land."  2 Chronicles 7:14

Africa Provides Hope And Challenge

Pope Benedict XVI preached the homily at the Mass
opening the Second Special Assembly of Bishops for Africa on October 4. The
Pope's address follows:

"Pax vobis peace to you! With this liturgical greeting
I address you all, gathered in the Vatican Basilica, where 15 years ago, on
April 10, 1994, the Servant of God John Paul II opened the First Special
Assembly for Africa of the Synod of Bishops. The fact that today we are
here to inaugurate the Second one means that it was indeed a historic event, but
not an isolated one. It marked the arrival point of a journey that
subsequently continued and is now reaching a significant new milestone in the
process of assessment and relaunching. Let us praise the Lord for
this! I address my most cordial welcome to the Members of the Synod
Assembly who are concelebrating this Holy Eucharist with me, with the Experts,
and with the Auditors, and in particular to those who come from Africa. I
extend a special greeting to the General Secretary of the Synod and his collaborators.
I am very happy to have with us His Holiness Abuna Paulos, Patriarch of the
Orthodox Tewahedo Church of Ethiopia, whom I warmly thank, and the Fraternal
Delegates of the other Churches and Ecclesial Communities. I am also glad to
greet the Civil Authorities and Ambassadors who have wished to take part in
this celebration; I greet with affection the priests, the men and women
religious, the representatives of organiza-tions, movements, and associations,
and the Congolese Choir which, together with the Sistine Chapel Choir, is
enlivening our Eucharistic Celebration.

"The biblical Readings of this Sunday speak of
marriage. However, more radically, they speak of the design of Creation, of the
origins, and hence, of God. The Second Reading from the Letter to the
Hebrews confirms this design, where it says: 'For He who sanctifies,' namely
Jesus Christ, and 'those who are sanctified,' that is, human beings, 'have all
one origin.' 'That is why He is not ashamed to call them brethren' (Heb 2:11).
Thus the primacy of God the Creator visibly stands out in both Readings, with
the eternal validity of His original imprint and the absolute priority of His
lordship, that lordship which children can welcome better than adults; for this
reason Jesus holds them up as a model for entering the Kingdom of Heaven (cf.
Mk 10: 13-15). Now, recognition of the absolute lordship of God is
certainly one of the salient and unifying features of the African
culture. There are of course many different cultures in Africa but they
all seem to agree on this point: God is the Creator and the source of
life. Now life as we well know is essentially expressed in the union between
the man and the woman and in the birth of children; the divine law,
written into nature, is therefore stronger and pre-eminent with respect to any
human law, according to Jesus' clear and concise affirmation: 'What therefore
God has joined together, let not man put asunder' (Mk 10:9). Thus the
perspective is not primarily moral: it concerns being, the order inscribed in
creation, before duty.

"Dear brothers and sisters, in this regard beyond the
first impression today's liturgy of the Word appears particularly suited to
accompanying the opening of a Synodal Assembly dedicated to Africa. I
would like to stress in particular certain aspects that emerge forcefully and
call into question the work that awaits us. The first, already mentioned:
the primacy of God, Creator, and Lord. The second: marriage. The
third: children. As regards the first aspect, Africa is the depository of
a priceless treasure for the whole world: its profound sense of God, which I
have been able to perceive first hand at my meetings with the African Bishops
on their ad limina visits, and especially during my recent Apostolic Visit in
Cameroon and Angola, of which I retain pleasant and moving memories. It
is precisely this pilgrimage to Africa that I would now like to recall, because
during those days I opened this Synod Assembly in spirit by presenting the
Instrumentum Laboris to the Presidents of the Bishops' Conferences and the
Heads of the Synods of Bishops of the Eastern Catholic Churches.

"When Africa's treasures are mentioned, one
immediately thinks of the abundant riches of the territory which have
unfortunately become and continue to be a cause of exploitation, conflict, and
corruption. The Word of God, instead, makes us look at another
patrimony: the spiritual and cultural heritage, which humanity needs even
more than raw materials. 'For what does it profit a man,' Jesus was to say, 'to
gain the whole world and forfeit his life?' (Mk 8:36). From this
viewpoint Africa constitutes an immense spiritual 'lung' for a humanity that
appears to be in a crisis of faith and hope. But this 'lung' can also
become ill. And at this moment at least two dangerous pathologies are infecting
it: in the first place, a disease that is already widespread in the Western
world, in other words practical materialism, combined with relativist and
nihilistic thought.

"Without discussing the genesis of such sickness of
the spirit, it is nevertheless indisputable that the so-called 'first' world
has sometimes exported and is exporting toxic spiritual refuse which
contaminates the peoples of other continents, including in particular the population
of Africa. In this sense, colonialism finished at a political level has
never really ended. But, precisely in this perspective, a second 'virus'
should be pointed out that could strike Africa too, that is, religious
fundamentalism, combined with political and economic interests. Groups
that relate to various religious affiliations are spreading on the African
continent; they do so in the name of God but according to a logic opposed to
divine logic, in other words, not by teaching and practicing love and respect
for freedom but rather by intolerance and violence.

"As regards the subject of marriage, the text of
chapter 2 of the Book of Genesis has recalled the perennial foundation that
Jesus Himself confirmed: 'Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and
cleaves to his wife, and they become one flesh' (Gn 2: 24). How is it
possible not to recall the wonderful cycle of catecheses that the Servant of
God John Paul II dedicated to this subject, based on a particularly deeply
studied exegesis of this biblical text? Today, in proposing it to us
again at the opening of the Synod, the liturgy offers us the superabundant
light of the truth revealed and incarnate in Christ with which it is possible
to consider the complex topic of marriage in the African ecclesial and social
context. On this point too, however, I would like briefly to mention a
thought that precedes any reflection or indication of a moral order, and which
is nevertheless still connected to the primacy of the meaning of the sacred and
of God. Marriage, as the Bible presents it to us, does not exist outside
the relationship with God. Conjugal life between a man and a woman, and
hence the life of the family that results from it, is inscribed in communion
with God and, in the light of the New Testament, becomes an icon of Trinitarian
Love and the sacrament of Christ's union with the Church. To the extent in
which it preserves and develops its faith, Africa will be able to draw on
immense resources for the benefit of the family founded on marriage.

"Furthermore, by including in the Gospel passage the
text on Jesus and the children (Mk 10:13-15), the liturgy invites us from this
moment to bear in mind in our pastoral concern the reality of children who
constitute a great and unfortunately often suffering part of the African
population. In the scene where Jesus welcomes the children, even
indignantly opposing the disciples who sought to keep them away from Him, we
see the image of the Church which in Africa, and in every other part of the
earth, expresses her own motherhood especially to the smallest ones, even when
they are not yet born. Like the Lord Jesus, the Church does not see them
principally as recipients of assistance and even less of pietism or
exploitation but rather as people in every sense, who through their own way of
being show the main road by which to enter the Kingdom of God, the road, that
is, of unconditional entrustment to His love.

"Dear Brothers, these indications that come from the
Word of God fit into the broad horizon of the Synodal Assembly that is
beginning today and that is the follow-up of the former Synod dedicated to the
African continent, whose fruits were presented to Pope John Paul II, of
venerable memory, in the Apostolic Exhortation Ecclesia in Africa. Although
the first duty of evangelization remains valid and timely, there is need of a
new evangelization that takes into account the rapid social changes of our
epoch and of the phenomenon of world globalization. The same can be said
of the pastoral decision to build the Church as God's family (cf. ibid., n.
63). In this broad wake comes the Second Assembly whose theme is: 'The
Church in Africa at the service of reconciliation, justice, and peace:
"You are the salt of the earth . . . You are the light of the world" (Mt
5:13, 14).' In recent years the Catholic Church in Africa has experienced
great dynamism and the Synodal Meeting is an opportunity to thank the
Lord. And since the growth of the ecclesial community in all fields also
entails challenges ad intra and ad extra, the Synod is a favorable moment for
rethinking pastoral activity and renewing the thrust of evangelization. In
order to become the light of the world and the salt of the earth it is
therefore always necessary to aim at the 'high standard' of Christian living,
in other words, at holiness. Pastors and all the members of the ecclesial
community are called to be holy; the lay faithful are called to spread the
fragrance of holiness in the family, in the work place, at school, and in every
other social and political context. May the Church in Africa always be a
family of authentic disciples of Christ where the difference between ethnic
groups becomes a cause and an incentive for reciprocal human and spiritual
enrichment.

"With her work of evangelization and human
advancement, the Church can certainly make a great contribution in Africa to
the whole of society which, unfortunately, is experiencing poverty, injustice,
violence, and war in various countries. The vocation of the Church, a
community of people who are reconciled with God and with one another, is that
of being a prophecy and a leaven of reconciliation between the different
ethnic, linguistic, and even religious groups, within single nations and
throughout the continent. Reconciliation, a gift of God that men and
women must implore and receive, is a stable basis on which to build peace, an
indispensable condition for the authentic progress of people and of society, in
accordance with the project of justice wanted by God. Open to the
redeeming grace of the Risen Lord, Africa will thus be illuminated increasingly
by His light and, letting itself be guided by the Holy Spirit, will become a
blessing for the universal Church, making its own qualified contribution to building
a more just and fraternal world.

"Dear Synod Fathers, thank you for the contribution
that each one of you will make to the work in the coming weeks, which will be
for us a renewed experience of fraternal communion that will redound to the benefit
of the whole Church, especially in the context of the Year for Priests.

And I ask you, dear brothers and sisters, to accompany us with your
prayers. I ask it of those present: I ask it of the cloistered
monasteries and religious communities scattered throughout Africa and in other
parts of the world, of the parishes and movements, of the sick and the
suffering: I ask all to pray that the Lord may make this Second Special
Assembly for Africa of the Synod of Bishops fruitful. Let us invoke upon
it the protection of St. Francis of Assisi whom we are commemorating today,
that of all the African Saints and, in a special way, that of the Blessed
Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church and Our Lady of Africa. Amen!"

Proclamation of Thanksgiving

By the President of the United States of America.

A Proclamation

The year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the blessings
of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so
constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come,
others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature, that they
cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually
insensible to the ever watchful providence of Almighty God. In the midst
of a civil war of unequaled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed
to foreign States to invite and to provoke their aggression, peace has been
preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been
respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere except in the
theatre of military conflict; while that theatre has been greatly contracted by
the advancing armies and navies of the Union. Needful diversions of
wealth and of strength from the fields of peaceful industry to the national
defense, have not arrested the plough, the shuttle or the ship; the axe has
enlarged the borders of our settlements and the mines as well of iron and coal
as of the precious metals, have yielded even more abundantly then
heretofore. Population has steadily increased, notwithstanding the waste
that has been made in the camp, the siege and the battle-field; and the
country, rejoicing in the consciousness of augmented strength and vigor, is
permitted to expect continuance of years with large increase of freedom. No
human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great
things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while
dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered
mercy. It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly,
reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and one voice by the
United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in
foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as
a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the
Heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions
justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also,
with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend
to His tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners, or
sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged,
and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty hand to heal the wounds
of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine
purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquillity, and Union.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Seal of the
United States to be affixed.

Done at the City of Washington, this Third day of October, in the year of our
Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the Independence of the
United States the Eighty-eighth.

By the President: Abraham Lincoln

William H. Seward, Secretary of State

World Must Focus On Building Justice

Archbishop Silvano Tomasi, the Vatican's
Permanent Observer at the United Nations office in Geneva, Switzerland,
addressed the international body on September 22. He spoke at the 12th
Ordinary Session of the Human Rights Council (HRC) on the impact of the current
financial crisis and the right to development. Archbishop Tomasi said:

"The current financial crisis is showing the degree of
global interdependence of national economies. It risks also to jeopardize the
efforts of the international community to meet the Millennium and other
development goals in many countries. Moreover, it could bring about a reduction
of the public and private funding of national social safety nets and undermine
thereby the enjoyment of human rights not only by the poorest and weakest
segments of the population, but also by other groups negatively affected by the
crisis. A key factor to mitigate the adverse effects of the crisis, we believe,
is placing the human person at the center of economic and social policies at the
international and national levels.

"The Holy See Delegation views the current debate on
the right to development within this Council and its mechanisms as an opportune
occasion to strengthen the international commitment on the operationalization
of this right and to transform this political willingness into concrete action.
Achieving development is not only a matter of eliminating material poverty, but
also of principles and values guiding economies and societies in all countries
irrespective of their per-capita income level. Furthermore, risks of a
deterioration of the economic and social situation are present in most
countries, including in high-income countries, due to the rising number of the
population suffering new forms of poverty, social exclusion, and
marginalization. Needless to say, these economic and social inter-country
inequalities risk to be significantly increased by the financial crisis. For
these reasons, my Delegation notes with interest the work that is being
accomplished by the Task Force aiming at creating a list of
right-to-development criteria and operational sub-criteria around three main
components: human-centered development, an enabling environment, and social
justice and equity. We believe that a global agreement on these criteria could
constitute a fundamental step not only towards the operationalization of the
1986 Declaration, but also in the direction of the systematic consideration of
the human person and its inherent rights and dignity in the elaboration of
development policies at all levels.

"In the context of the development process, the human
person is not only a receiver of aid but also the real actor of his or her
integral development and of the relations among peoples and persons. As
restated in the recent encyclical Caritas in Veritate: 'Man is the source, the
focus, and the aim of all economic and social life' (25). We support the Task
Force's approach of a comprehensive human-centered development that implies the
indivisibility and interdependence of all human rights as well as the
relevance, not only of development outcomes, but also of the development
realization process and of its sustainability. My delegation believes also that
the cultural component of the right to development defined in the 1986 Declaration
cannot be complete without including the ethical and spiritual dimensions of
the person. These qualitative dimensions should be reflected among the
human-centered criteria of this right that are being elaborated by the Task
Force.

"The Task Force view of the duty of States to create,
individually and collectively, an enabling environment for the realization of
the right to development should be endorsed. States therefore are called to
remove obstacles to development due to the violation of human rights and the
international community to support the development process, especially in the
poorest countries. In this context the principle of subsidiarity is
particularly relevant. Solidarity and subsidiarity can be viewed as
complementary. While the former relates to the mobilization of financial and
human resources for development, the latter helps to identify the most
appropriate level of decision-making and intervention. The principle of
subsidiarity can therefore be seen as a cross-cutting criterion for the
creation of the enabling environment to the right to development. It allows the
participation of the beneficiaries of aid in the process of development through
the responsible use of their freedom and talents.

"Finally, we support the adoption of criteria of
social justice and equity that imply moral imperatives prompting action for the
protection of human rights and for an equitable sharing of benefits from
development, including, among others, access to food, housing education,
health, and employment. We follow with interest as well the overall work of the
Task Force and Working Group aiming at identifying operational
right-to-development criteria and dialoguing with existing poverty reduction,
debt transfer, technology transfer, and other global partnerships. We believe
that such work is laying the ground work for States and the international
community to concretely reduce economic and social disparities, too often a
cause of violations of human dignity and human rights."

In Defense of Life: "Change" Does Not Guarantee Improvement

Fred H. Summe, vice president of Northern Kentucky Right to Life

by Fred H. Summe

"Our federal bureaucracy is a vast wasteland strewn
with the carcasses of absurd federal programs which proved infinitely worse
than the problems they were established to correct," wrote Bishop Thomas Doran
of Rockford, Illinois, warning against the unwarranted expansion of the federal
government into health care.

"Despite the many flaws with our current policies,
change itself does not guarantee improvement. …There is important work to be
done, but 'change' for change's sake, change which expands the reach of
government beyond its competence, would do more harm than good," teach the two
bishops of Kansas City: Kansas City, Kansas Archbishop John F. Naumann
and Kansas City-St. Joseph Bishop Robert W. Finn.

As to the bill pending before the House of
Representatives, Bishop R. Walter Nickless of Sioux City, Iowa, warned: "No
health care reform is better than the wrong sort of health care reform."

"…the health care bill is fatally flawed and as such
cannot be supported," writes Bishop Robert Vasa of Baker, Oregon.

These are just five of the growing number of bishops
publicly opposing the so-called "health care reform." Although the
details of the health care reform legislation in the Democratic-controlled
House of Representatives and those in the Democratic-controlled U.S. Senate are
vague and constantly changing, a number of U.S. bishops have now publicly
expressed their opposition to President Barack Obama's health care reform
because it contradicts Catholic social teachings.

There are three basic Catholic principles about which
these bishops have expressed grave concern, and on which they have publicly
expressed opposition to what President Obama is determined to accomplish.

Abortion

Cardinal Justin Rigali of Philadelphia, who chairs the
U.S. Bishops' Secretariat of Pro-Life Activities, criticized the bill in the
House of Representatives for delegating to the Secretary of Health and Human
Services "the power to make unlimited abortion a mandated benefit in the
'public health insurance plan' the government will manage nationwide." The
Cardinal asked: "By what right, then, and by what precedent, would
Congress make abortion coverage into a nationwide norm, or force Americans to
subsidize it as a condition for participating in a public health
program?" The Cardinal concluded that the current legislation being
proposed was "not acceptable."

Catholic Medical Association President Louis C.
Breschi, M.D., sounded the alarm that "…few people realize that, as things
stand, abortion could be a required benefit in all health insurance plans, and
it would be subsidized not only in health care premiums, but also through
taxation. This unjust mandate must be excluded."

Writing in Denver Catholic Register, Archbishop
Charles Chaput states: "Killing or funding the killing of unborn children
has nothing to do with promoting human health, and including these things in
any 'health care' proposal, no matter how shrewdly hidden, would simply be a
form of lying."

"First and most important, the Church will not accept
any legislation that mandates coverage, public or private, for abortion,
euthanasia, or embryonic stem-cell research," states Bishop Nickless. "As
a corollary of this, we insist equally on adequate protection of individual
rights of conscience for patients and health care providers not to be made
complicit in these evils. …A so-called reform that imposes these evils on us
would be far worse than keeping the health care system we now have."

The scam was exposed when Sen. Orrin Hatch (R) offered
two amendments to the final draft of the health care bill in the Senate Finance
Committee: (1) that no taxpayers' funds will be used to pay for abortion;
and (2) no one will be compelled, against his conscience, to participate in
abortions or other procedures because of religious or moral objections. The
amendment was rejected by the Democratic-controlled committee.

Death Panels

When former Alaskan governor Sarah Palin warned that
the proposed health reform legislation would bring about "death panels," the
pro-abortion news media reacted in its normal manner: Ignore the issue
and attack the messenger. Unable to refute her claim, the news media
simply denied that it was true and simply criticized her with its litany of
mean-spirited names.

Is the rationing of health care coming? The Wall
Street Journal concluded: "Although administration officials are eager to
deny it, rationing health care is central to President Barack Obama's health
plan. The Obama strategy is to reduce health costs by rationing the
services that we and future generations of patients will receive."

This newspaper continues to warn: "The existence
of such a program in the United States would not only deny lifesaving care but
would also cast a pall over medical researchers who would fear that government
experts might reject their discoveries as 'too expensive.'"

The two Kansas City bishops also expressed their
concern that end-of-life counseling mandated by the government creates the risk
of pressuring those who are especially vulnerable to end their life, and "would
send the message that they are no longer of value to society."

"Modern socialist governments like to control not food
but the means to protect and extend life. …we as Catholics should take care
that health care does not morph into life control," notes Bishop Doran.

Subsidiarity

These bishops also point out that the intention of
President Obama and the Democratic-controlled Congress to expand the role and
control of the federal government over our country's health care system
violates the Catholic principle of subsidiarity.

"A community of higher order should not interfere in
the internal life of a community of a lower order, depriving the latter of its
functions," is how the Catechism of the Catholic Church expresses the principle
of subsidiarity. "Socialization also presents dangers. Excessive
intervention by the state can threaten personal freedom and initiative." This
Catholic teaching "sets limits on state intervention." [Sections 1883 and
1885]

The two Kansas City bishops noted that the principle
of subsidiarity was taught by Pope Leo XIII's 1891 encyclical Rerum Novarum,
repeated in Pius XI's Quadragesimo Anno, John Paul II's Centesimus Annus, and
Pope Benedict XVI's Deus Caritas Est. In their joint statement, these two
bishops summarized this principle: "The writings of recent Popes have
warned that the neglect of subsidiarity can lead to an excessive centralization
of human services, which in turn leads to excessive costs, and loss of personal
responsibility and quality of care. … diminishing personal responsibility
or creating an inordinately bureaucratic structure which will be vulnerable to
financial abuse, be crippling to our national economy, and remove the sense of
humanity from the work of healing and helping the sick."

Bishop Nickless also stressed that the Church "does
not teach that government should directly provide health care," and concluded
that a federal monopoly in the health care industry would be a prudentially
poor decision. "While a government monopoly would not be motivated by
profit, it would be motivated by such bureaucratic standards as quotas and
defined 'best procedures,' which are equally beyond the influence of most
citizens."

"The threat of federal power to coerce health care
providers, employers, and individuals into participating in actions contrary to
conscience and Catholic teaching" concerns Bishop James Vann Johnston of
Cape-Girardeau and Springfield, Missouri. The Bishop pointed out this was
happening now and referred to a matter of the Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission taking action against the Catholic Belmont Abbey College in North
Carolina on the grounds that it removed coverage for abortion, contraception,
and voluntary sterilization from its health insurance plan provided to its
employees. After expressing that he cannot support the so-called health
care reform, the Bishop added, "But, the essential element of the principle of
subsidiarity is the protection of individual freedoms from unjust
micromanagement and manipulation by the state."

Another example of the Obama administration's
unlimited and unprecedented exercise of power was its order sent to about 200
health insurance companies after Humana mailed its members a warning that their
Medicare benefits may be reduced or lost. The government letter ordered:
"…we [Department of Health and Human Services] are instructing you to
immediately discontinue all such mailings to beneficiaries and to remove any
related materials directed to Medicare enrollees from your Web sites."

"There is a danger in being persuaded to think that
the national government is the sole instrument of the common good," teaches
Bishop Samuel J. Aquila of Fargo, North Dakota, as he expressed his opposition
to the so-called health care reform. "States, towns, fraternal
organizations, businesses, cooperatives, parishes, and especially the family
have not only legitimate freedom to provide the goods they are rightly capable
of supplying, but oftentimes do so with far greater efficiency, less
bureaucracy and, most importantly, with personalized care and love."

What do the Kansas bishops suggest? "…to hold
our elected officials accountable in these important deliberations and let them
know clearly our support for those who, with prudence and wisdom, will protect
the right to life, maintain freedom of conscience, and nurture the sense of
solidarity that drives us to work hard, to pray, and to act charitably for the
good of all."

So do it now. Call your congressman and let him
know that the various proposed so-called health care reform bills are
unacceptable and that you will be looking to how he votes on this most important
issue.

Tell your family and friends to do the same.

(Much of the information stated above was from
lifesitenews.com, into which every pro-lifer needs to tap.)

Priest Uses Cooking To Encourage Community

by Michael Halm

Fr. Leo E. Patalinghug from Mt. St. Mary's Seminary in
Emmitsburg, Maryland, is getting more well known. His ministry, Grace
Before Meals, now includes speaking engagements, a cook book, podcasts, and a
TV pilot.

Through www.gracebeforemeals.com's
blog and weekly newsletter, Fr. Leo says, "You'll all have a chance to get to
know me better, to get to know each other better, and most importantly, get to
know better the One Who invites us to His Table . . . where the Food is an
'eternal banquet.' "

It all wouldn't have happened if not for 9/11. When
his planned trip to France was cancelled, he and a few other priests got
together for an impromptu retreat. Fr. Leo's cooking and the fellowship
prompted one priest to suggest a cooking show. Fr. Leo claims he
responded, "That is the dumbest idea I have ever heard!"

The idea would not go away, however. As Fr. Leo
explains, he now understands "It's time to try something new to engage people
and their faith. It is part of a movement among traditional
Catholics who are pushing what Pope John Paul II called 'the new
evangelization,' an effort to use mass communication to draw people to the
Church."

His Grace Before Meals: Recipes for Family Life
not only gives recipes for two meals a month centered around feast days,
holidays, and family events, but includes Bible passages for reflection and
conversation starter questions, such as, "What qualities do you expect out of
an ideal friend?" "What is your most memorable meal?" "If you
had a chance to bring one person back from the dead, who would it be and why?"

There's even a Fr. Leo grace: "Loving Father, we
thank You for the family gathered around the table, the friends who extend your
goodness, the food which nourishes our bodies, and the Faith that strengthens
our souls. Keep us ever mindful of these blessings, and may this food
inspire us to bring these blessings to those who go without family, friends,
food, and faith. We ask all of this through Christ our Lord. Amen."

On fast food he comments, "Our culture has become too
busy. We are too busy to prepare food for each other. We are too
busy to spend time together. We are too busy to make this effort for
people we love," says Fr. Leo.

"It's the mentality behind it that makes us not slow
down, not come together as a family, not develop the relationships that are
fostered at the home," he said. "I have no trouble with people bringing
fast food, just eat it together, slowly, and say prayer beforehand."

Cincinnati-native James Boric, at the seminary,
took part in some of Fr. Leo's fraternal dinners in Westminister, and was
impressed by how he went out of his way to make dishes especially for him
without seafood or red meat, like breaded portabello mushroom salad. "I
like to think that I have forced him to become a better chef," he says.

Priests and seminarians are not the only ones included
in this project. Many members of his family have also been on the
show. Archived episodes of his show include pasta carbonara with his
sister Angelique and his sister-in-law Angelica, zucchini frittata with older
brother Carlos, mandarin Asian chicken salad with his nieces Alyssa, Angelique,
and Christiania, and peanut butter and banana hot dogs with his nephews C.J.,
Manjo, Gabriel, Jared, and Chad.

Fr. Leo also visited the family of Thomas H. Powell,
president of Mount St. Mary's University, for creamy coconut curry chicken.

His own mentor, however, is his spiritual mother, the
Blessed Mother. "Life was not easy for her," he says. "She
suffered." Yet he can picture her providing the Child Jesus and Joseph
with their meals. "She is the model of calm generosity. She feeds
all of us with the fruit of her womb, Jesus."

Fr. Leo gained a bit more notoriety when he beat chef
Bobby Flay in a Fusion Fajita cook-off on the Food Network, which Fr. Leo calls
"sometimes the safest thing to watch on TV."

He has been recently interviewed on "PBS" Religion and
Ethics Newsweekly" and our local Sacred Heart Radio's "Son Rise Morning
Show." "Grace Before Meals" won a People's Choice Podcast Award in the
Food and Drink category.

Leo McWatkins Films is currently in development of a
13-part television series based on the Grace Before Meals book.

"The fact is we're all hungering for something."
Fr. Leo concludes, "Let's not overlook the blessings! The food on the
table and the people gathered around it. That's my hope: to come a
little closer to our table as a family and to The Table as God's Family!"

In November Fr. Leo will be taping a show at
Steubenville University called "Franciscan University Presents" which airs on EWTN.

A study by the National Center on Substance and
Addiction at Colombia University confirms the Grace Before Meals
philosophy. It compared families who eat dinner together less than three
times a week with those who do so at least five times per week. Adolescents
who eat with their families more frequently were forty percent more likely to
talk to their parents about a problem. Their academic performance was
better. They were significantly less likely to smoke, to drink, or use
drugs. The traditional two-parent family was much more likely to have
dinner as a family than a single-parent household.

Pope Receives New U.S. Ambassador

On October 2, Pope Benedict XVI received the
credentials of Miguel Humberto Dias, the new ambassador to the Holy See. In
his address, the Holy Father remarked:

"I am pleased to accept the Letters by which you are
accredited Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of
America. I recall with pleasure my meeting with President Barack Obama
and his family last July, and willingly reciprocate the kind greetings which
you bring from him. I also take this occasion to express my confidence
that diplomatic relations between the United States and the Holy See, formally
initiated twenty-five years ago, will continue to be marked by fruitful
dialogue and cooperation in the promotion of human dignity, respect for
fundamental human rights, and the service of justice, solidarity, and peace
within the whole human family.

Let nothing worry you;
Nothing dismay you;
Everything passes;
God does not change.
If you have patience
You can do anything.
Those who have God
Want for nothing;
God alone is enough.
— St. Teresa of Avila

"In the course of my Pastoral Visit to your country
last year I was pleased to encounter a vibrant democracy, committed to the
service of the common good and shaped by a vision of equality and equal
opportunity based on the God-given dignity and freedom of each human being.
That vision, enshrined in the nation's founding documents, continues to inspire
the growth of the United States as a cohesive yet pluralistic society
constantly enriched by the gifts brought by new generations, including the many
immigrants who continue to enhance and rejuvenate American society. In
recent months, the reaffirmation of this dialectic of tradition and
originality, unity, and diversity has recaptured the imagination of the world,
many of whose peoples look to the American experience and its founding vision
in their own search for viable models of accountable democracy and sound
development in an increasingly interdependent and global society.

"For this reason, I appreciate your acknowledgement of
the need for a greater spirit of solidarity and multilateral engagement in
approaching the urgent problems facing our planet. The cultivation of the
values of 'life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness' can no longer be seen
in predominantly individualistic or even national terms, but must rather be
viewed from the higher perspective of the common good of the whole human
family. The continuing international economic crisis clearly calls for a
revision of present political, economic, and financial structures in the light
of the ethical imperative of ensuring the integral development of all
people. What is needed, in effect, is a model of globalization inspired
by an authentic humanism, in which the world's peoples are seen not merely as
neighbors but as brothers and sisters.

"Multilateralism, for its part, should not be
restricted to purely economic and political questions; rather, it should find
expression in a resolve to address the whole spectrum of issues linked to the
future of humanity and the promotion of human dignity, including secure access
to food and water, basic health care, just policies governing commerce and
immigration, particularly where families are concerned, climate control and
care for the environment, and the elimination of the scourge of nuclear
weapons. With regard to the latter issue, I wish to express my
satisfaction for the recent Meeting of the United Nations Security Council
chaired by President Obama, which unanimously approved the resolution on atomic
disarmament and set before the international community the goal of a world free
of nuclear weapons. This is a promising sign on the eve of the Review
Conference of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.

"Genuine progress, as the Church's social teaching
insists, must be integral and humane; it cannot prescind from the truth about
human beings and must always be directed to their authentic good. In a
word, fidelity to man requires fidelity to the truth, which alone is the
guarantee of freedom and real development. For her part the Church in the
United States wishes to contribute to the discussion of the weighty ethical and
social questions shaping America's future by proposing respectful and
reasonable arguments grounded in the natural law and confirmed by the
perspective of faith. Religious vision and religious imagination do not
straiten but enrich political and ethical discourse, and the religions,
precisely because they deal with the ultimate destiny of every man and woman,
are called to be a prophetic force for human liberation and development
throughout the world, particularly in areas torn by hostility and
conflict. In my recent visit to the Holy Land I stressed the value of
understanding and cooperation among the followers of the various religions in
the service of peace, and so I note with appreciation your government's desire
to promote such cooperation as part of a broader dialogue between cultures and
peoples.

"Allow me, Mr. Ambassador, to reaffirm a conviction
which I expressed at the outset of my Apostolic Journey to the United
States. Freedom – the freedom which Americans rightly hold dear – 'is not
only a gift but also a summons to personal responsibility'; it is 'a challenge
held out to each generation, and it must constantly be won over to the cause of
good' (Address at the White House, April 16, 2008). The preservation of
freedom is inseparably linked to respect for truth and the pursuit of authentic
human flourishing. The crisis of our modern democracies calls for a
renewed commitment to reasoned dialogue in the discernment of wise and just
policies respectful of human nature and human dignity. The Church in the
United States contributes to this discernment particularly through the
formation of consciences and her educational apostolate, by which she makes a
significant and positive contribution to American civic life and public
discourse. Here I think particularly of the need for a clear discernment
with regard to issues touching the protection of human dignity and respect for
the inalienable right to life from the moment of conception to natural death,
as well as the protection of the right to conscientious objection on the part
of health care workers, and indeed all citizens. The Church insists on the
unbreakable link between an ethics of life and every other aspect of social
ethics, for she is convinced that, in the prophetic words of the late Pope John
Paul II, 'a society lacks solid foundations when, on the one hand, it asserts
values such as the dignity of the person, justice, and peace, but then, on the
other hand, radically acts to the contrary by allowing or tolerating a variety
of ways in which human life is devalued and violated, especially where it is
weak or marginalized' (Evangelium Vitae, 93; cf. Caritas in Veritate, 15).

"Mr. Ambassador, as you undertake your new mission in
the service of your country I offer you my good wishes and the promise of my
prayers. Be assured that you may always count on the offices of the Holy
See to assist and support you in the fulfillment of your duties. Upon you
and your family, and upon all the beloved American people, I cordially invoke
God's blessings of wisdom, strength, and peace."

Priests Called To Be Men Of Joy And Hope

An international retreat for priests was held
September 27 - October 3 in Ars, France, the home of St. John Vianney, patron
of parish priests. Pope Benedict XVI sent a message by videotape.

The Pope said: "As you can easily imagine, I would
have been extremely happy to be with you on this international retreat for
priests on the theme: 'The joy of priesthood: consecrated for the
salvation of the world.' A large number of you are taking part and
you have the benefit of Cardinal Christoph Schönborn's teaching. I greet
him cordially together with the other preachers and Bishop Guy-Marie Bagnard of
Belley-Ars. I must be content with addressing this recorded message to
you, but please believe that through these words I am speaking to each one of
you in the most personal way possible because, as St. Paul says: 'I hold you in
my heart, for you are all partakers with me of grace' (Phil 1:7).

"St. John Mary Vianney emphasized the indispensable
role of the priest when he said: 'A good pastor, a pastor according to the
heart of God, is the greatest treasure that the good Lord can give to a parish
and one of the most precious gifts of divine mercy' (Le Curé d'Ars, Pensées,
presented by Abbé Bernard Nodet, Desclée de Brouwer, Foi Vivante, 2000, p.
101). In this Year for Priests we are all called to explore and to
rediscover the greatness of the sacrament which has configured us for ever to
Christ the High Priest and has 'consecrated' us all 'in truth' (Jn 17: 19).

The interior life is like a sea of love in which the soul is plunged and is, as it were, drowned in love. Just as a mother holds her child’s face in her hands to cover it with kisses, so does God’s hold the devout man.
— St. John Vianney

"Chosen from among men, the priest continues to be one
of them and is called to serve them by giving them the life of God. It is
he who 'continues the work of redemption on earth' (Nodet, p. 98). Our
priestly vocation is a treasure that we bear in earthen vessels (cf. 2 Cor
4:7). St. Paul expressed with happiness the infinite distance that exists
between our vocation and the poverty of the responses we can give to God.
From this point of view, a secret bond unites the Pauline Year with the Year
for Priests. Let us keep present in our ears and in the depths of our
hearts the moving and trusting exclamation of the Apostle who said: 'When I am
weak, then I am strong' (2 Cor 12:10). Awareness of this weakness opens
us to intimacy with God Who gives us strength and joy. The more the
priest perseveres in friendship with God, the more he will continue the
Redeemer's work on this earth (cf. Nodet, p. 98). The priest does not
exist for himself, he exists for everyone (cf. Nodet, p. 100).

"That is precisely where one of the greatest
challenges of our time lies. Indeed, today more than ever the priest, a
man of the divine word and of the sacred, must be a man of joy and hope. To
people who can no longer conceive that God is pure Love, he will always affirm
that life is worth living and that Christ gives it its full meaning because He
loves human beings, He loves them all. The religion of the Curé d'Ars is
a religion of joy, not a morbid quest for mortification as has sometimes been
believed: 'Our happiness is too great; no, no, we shall never understand
it' (Nodet, p. 110), he would say, and further: 'when we are travelling and see
a bell-tower, this view should quicken our heart beat, just as the sight of the
roof of her beloved's dwelling place quickens the bride's heart beat'
(ibid.). Here I would like to greet with very special affection all those
of you who have pastoral responsibility for several bell-towers and spend
yourselves without counting the cost to keep up the sacramental life in your
respective communities. The Church is immensely grateful to you
all! Do not lose heart but continue to pray and to have prayers said that
numerous young men will be ready to respond to the call of Christ Who never
stops wanting to increase the number of His apostles to reap the harvest in His
fields.

"Dear priests, think too of the extreme diversity of
the ministries you exercise in the service of the Church. Think of the
great number of Masses you have celebrated or will celebrate, making Christ
really present on the altar each time. Think of the innumerable
absolutions you have given and will give, enabling a sinner to be forgiven.
Then you perceive the infinite fruitfulness of the sacrament of Orders. In
the space of a moment your hands, your lips became the hands and lips of
God. You bear Christ within you; through grace, you have entered the Holy
Trinity. Just as the saintly Curé said: 'if we had faith, we would see
God hidden in the priest like a light behind glass or like wine mixed with
water' (Nodet, p. 97). This consideration should lead to harmonizing
relations between priests so as to create a priestly community, as St. Peter
exhorted (cf. 1 Pt 2: 9), in order to build up the body of Christ and build up
yourselves in love (cf. Eph 4:11-16).

"The priest is the man of the future: it is he who has
taken seriously Paul's words: 'If then you have been raised with Christ, seek
the things that are above' (Col 3:1). What he does on earth is in the
order of the means ordered to the last things. The Mass is this one point
of union between the means and the End because it already enables us to
contemplate, under the humble appearances of bread and wine, the Body and Blood
of the One we shall adore for eternity. The holy Curé's simple,
concentrated sentences on the Eucharist help us perceive more clearly the
riches of this unique moment in the day when we experience an encounter that is
life-giving for ourselves and for each one of the faithful. 'The
happiness that exists in saying Mass,' he wrote, 'will only be properly
understood in Heaven' (Nodet, page 104).

"I, therefore, encourage you to strengthen your faith
and that of your faithful in the sacrament you celebrate, which is the source
of true joy. The Saint of Ars wrote: 'The priest must feel the same joy
(as the Apostles) in seeing Our Lord Whom he holds in his hands' (ibid.).
In giving thanks for what you are and for what you do, I repeat to you:
'Nothing will ever replace the ministry of priests at the heart of the Church'
(Homily, Mass on the Esplanade des Invalides, Paris, September 13, 2008).
Living witnesses of the power of God at work in human weakness, consecrated for
the salvation of the world, you remain, my dear brothers, chosen by Christ
Himself in order to be, through Him, salt of the earth and light of the
world. At this spiritual retreat may you have a profound experience of
the 'inexpressible closeness' (St. Augustine, Les Confessions, III, 6, 11 BA
13, p. 383) in order to be perfectly united to Christ so as to proclaim His
Love around you and to be wholly committed to the service of the sanctification
of all the members of the People of God. As I entrust you to the Virgin
Mary, Mother of Christ and of priests, I impart my Apostolic Blessing to you
all."

Light to the Nations: A Christian Perspective on World News

pope addresses climate change

"I wish to reflect today upon the relationship between
the Creator and ourselves as guardians of His creation. In so doing I
also wish to offer my support to leaders of governments and international
agencies who soon will meet at the United Nations to discuss the urgent issue
of climate change.

"The Earth is indeed a precious gift of the Creator
Who, in designing its intrinsic order, has given us guidelines that assist us
as stewards of His creation. Precisely from within this framework, the
Church considers that matters concerning the environment and its protection are
intimately linked with integral human development. In my recent encyclical,
Caritas in Veritate, I referred to such questions recalling the 'pressing moral
need for renewed solidarity' (no. 49) not only between countries but also
between individuals, since the natural environment is given by God to everyone,
and so our use of it entails a personal responsibility towards humanity as a
whole, particularly towards the poor and towards future generations (cf. no.
48).

The soul of one who loves God always swims in joy, always keeps holiday, and is always in a mood for singing.
— St. John of the Cross

"How important it is then, that the international
community and individual governments send the right signals to their citizens
and succeed in countering harmful ways of treating the environment! The
economic and social costs of using up shared resources must be recognized with
transparency and borne by those who incur them, and not by other peoples or
future generations. The protection of the environment, and the
safeguarding of resources and of the climate, oblige all leaders to act
jointly, respecting the law and promoting solidarity with the weakest regions
of the world (cf. no. 50). Together we can build an integral human
development beneficial for all peoples, present and future, a development
inspired by the values of charity in truth. For this to happen it is
essential that the current model of global development be transformed through a
greater, and shared, acceptance of responsibility for creation: this is
demanded not only by environmental factors, but also by the scandal of hunger
and human misery.

"With these sentiments I wish to encourage all the
participants in the United Nations summit to enter into their discussions
constructively and with generous courage. Indeed, we are all called to
exercise responsible stewardship of creation, to use resources in such a way
that every individual and community can live with dignity, and to develop 'that
covenant between human beings and the environment, which should mirror the
creative love of God' (Message for the 2008 World Day of Peace, 7)! . . ."

holy spirit guides synod on africa

vatican city — At the Angelus on October 4, Pope
Benedict XVI discussed the Synod of Bishops for Africa which opend that day.

The Pope stated: "The Synod is always an intense
ecclesial experience, an experience of collegial pastoral responsibility with
regard to a specific aspect of the Church's life, or, as in this case, of a
part of the Christian People determined on the basis of their geographical
area. The Pope and his closest collaborators are meeting with the Members
designated by the Assembly, the Experts and the Auditors to examine the chosen
theme. It is important to stress that it is neither a study convention
nor a programmatic assembly. Reports and discourses are heard in the
hall, the participants meet in groups, but we all know well that we are not the
protagonists: it is the Lord, His Holy Spirit, Who guides the
Church. The most important thing for everyone is to listen: to listen to
each other, and for everyone to listen to what the Lord wants to say to
us. This is why the Synod takes place in an atmosphere of faith and
prayer, in religious obedience to God's word. It is the task of the
Successor of Peter to convoke and guide Synodal Assemblies, to evaluate what
emerges from their work, and then to make the appropriate pastoral suggestions.

"Dear friends, Africa is a continent endowed with an
extraordinary wealth of humanity. Its population currently amounts to
about a billion, and its overall birth-rate is the highest in the world. Africa
is a fertile land of human life, but this life is unfortunately beset by so
many forms of poverty and at times suffers from gross injustice. The
Church is committed to surmounting them with the power of the Gospel and the
material solidarity of numerous institutions and charitable projects. Let
us pray the Virgin Mary that she may bless the Second Synod Assembly for Africa
and obtain peace and development for that great, beloved continent."

Pray The News

Because we are sons and daughters of God, saved by
Jesus and empowered by the Holy Spirit, we do not merely read the news but make
the news. We direct the course of world events by faith expressed in
action and intercession. Please pray for the stories covered in this
paper. Clip out this intercessory list and make it part of your daily prayer.

We pray in thanksgiving for all God's blessings.

We pray for God's will to be done in the November
elections.

We pray for the souls of the faithful departed.

We pray that the Holy Spirit will guide health care
reform efforts and that Catholic principles will be reflected in changes.

We pray that the Synod of Bishops for Africa will be
very fruitful and enable the Church to continue to contribute greatly to
African society.

We pray that the current economic crises will result
in changed hearts and in justice and development throughout the world.

We pray for all priests to grow in holiness and to be
men of joy and hope during this Year for Priests.

We pray for an end to abortion, violence, wars,
euthanasia, and all attacks on life.

We pray for the lonely, suffering, sick, and
discouraged.

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Pray and ask the Holy Spirit what amount He would have you contribute.